US soldiers look at a painting 24 April 2003 as workers at Baghdad's Archaeological Museum carry in some of the recovered items that had been looted following the US-led invasion to the Iraqi capital city. (AFP Photo) / AFP

One of the gravest casualties of the 10-year US-led war in Iraq is the destruction of the country’s cultural heritage, Iraqi archaeologist and architect Ihsan Fathi told RT.

On top of thousands of looted or illegally obtained cultural
artifacts during the war, billions of dollars have also been
transferred out of “Iraq’s Central banks to US without any paper
trail.”

“I’m sure that everything that was stored in the Central and
other banks was sent to the US without any documentation and now is
kept in archives,” Fathi said. “Huge amounts of documents
representing historical importance that cannot be assigned a
monetary value were taken by the US.”

And all attempts to reclaim the country’s stolen treasures
failed: “The Iraqi government was trying to get them back but
the American Administration wanted to strike a deal and return only
half of the documents,” he explained.

The Iraqi architect estimated there are about “35,000 small
and large items missing from the National Museum of Iraq… The Iraqi
museum, for example, was plundered before their very eyes. The
plundering lasted for three days without the occupation forces
stepping in at all.”

Also, in cities like Babylon artifacts were damaged after Polish
troops took over the area and “used heavy armor, tanks and
helicopters” for “construction work for their military
infrastructure … and seriously damaged many archeological sites in
the area.”

RT:Mr. Ihsan Fethi, you witnessed the looting of
Iraqi cultural treasures. Everybody knows what was happening in
Iraq after the American occupation. What will be the consequences
of all this for Iraq’s culture?

Ihsan Fethi: As you know, our civilization originated on
the territories where Iraq is now. We have historic landmarks that
are over 10,000 years old. And everybody thinks that Iraq is
responsible for preserving this cultural heritage. But
unfortunately, Iraq is the world leader in having destruction
visited on its historic sites. This destruction started during the
Mongol invasion in 1258 and continued all the way to the 20th
century, when the Iraqi state was formed. We’ve suffered great
losses.

During the 1991 occupation, the Americans reached the suburbs of
Hillah. Many of the museums in the city were looted, and the US
forces just let that happened. But even more damage was done in
2003, when Iraq was occupied. I will not talk about the nature of
that operation right now – whether that campaign was to liberate or
occupy our country. It surprises me that some intellectuals in Iraq
still refuse to call this campaign an occupation. The UN Security
Council resolution #1483, passed on May 22, 2003, calls the
international military contingency in Iraq occupying forces. This
was the official status of the international coalition. This was an
occupation.

Prior to the occupation a number of international organizations
– including those for protection of archaeological sites which are
responsible for preserving these very sites – had officially
informed the USA and President Bush in particular, that as a
consequence, the cultural and historical heritage of Iraq might be
found in deplorable state. Among cultural advisers to President
Bush there were four experts who were suggesting that the
preservation of Iraqi historical and cultural landmarks should have
been his priority task.

RT: Still, the US allowed the looting of Iraqi
historical landmarks, or maybe even gave a spur to this. Can
you tell us the exact number of looted sites if there is such
information at all?

IF: This is a frequently asked question, too, and the
answer is clear to me. People who were in charge of Iraqi museums
didn’t have any detailed lists or catalogues that would enroll all
cultural and historical monuments and antiquities. In particular,
it refers to the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad, which is
regarded as one of the world’s largest and most important museums.
The museum items should have been inspected annually, but
unfortunately, the inspection was either not carried out at all, or
it was not full. That is why we can’t define the exact number of
stolen artifacts. However, some experts tend to think that there
are about 35,000 small and large items missing from the National
Museum of Iraq.

RT:And they haven’t been regained, right?

IF: To our regret, only a small portion has been
returned. Valuable artifacts are always looted when there is a
conflict and the atmosphere of chaos reigns. And international
experience has proven that at best only 10 percent of them are
usually regained.

RT:The former regime is considered to have taken
special care of rare gold artifacts and gold bars, which were of
great importance. Were these items stolen, too?

IF: A great number of gold artifacts and gold bars were
kept in some palaces of the former president. This gold has been
misappropriated. Iraqi authorities had no idea about the amount of
the stolen antiquities. In addition, large amounts of currency have
been also misappropriated. The country’s Central banks and other
banks had accounted for billions of dollars, and now all these
funds have been transferred to the USA without any paper trail.

And this does not refer only to the objects of value. They have
also moved out of the country tons of documents that captured the
history of Iraq. These documents are priceless. All that gold is
nothing compared to those historical documents that are now locked
up somewhere in a US archive. The government of Iraq has attempted
to return these documents home, but the Americans are trying to
make a deal here and offer to return only half of the documents.
The reason they are giving is that they are trying to repair the
documents from the presidential palace and Iraqi special services
archives, but no one knows the true story behind this.

Also, a lot of documents have been moved from the Foreign
Ministry and state security agencies to the US by Adnan Makiya,
with the help of the occupation authorities – allegedly for the
Iraq Memory Foundation. This operation had been planned long before
the war. We have the information that these documents were sold to
one of the American universities. Things like this should not be
allowed to happen.

RT:Is it true that there are some valuable Jewish
manuscripts among the misappropriated documents, including one of
the oldest copies of Torah, which is now said to be in
Israel?

IF: Yes, there are some documents in the stolen archives
that belonged to Iraq’s Jewish community. Some of these
centuries-old documents are now in the USA. According to
international regulations, the occupation authorities have no right
to move local cultural and material values. On the contrary, it is
their duty to preserve these values. Iraq must insist on its right
to recover all of the illegally moved objects, down to the very
smallest ones.

RT:So, Iraq has lost some valuable pieces of its
cultural heritage under the conniving eye of the occupational
authorities. But is it possible, on the other hand, that the
present-day level of culture in the Iraqi society is insufficient
to address the task of preserving Iraq’s historical
heritage?

IF: Yes, of course. I would say that we should blame not
just Iraqi people, but also trade unions and other civil society
organizations for not taking necessary measures in order to
preserve the great Iraqi heritage. Even archeologists didn’t do
anything.

But interestingly, when the US occupation ended, some of Bush’s
advisors resigned over the fact that the US and other countries
didn’t do anything to preserve Iraqi historical sites. They were
protecting objects like the Oil Ministry and others that were
strategic to the US occupation forces. Even Americans themselves
acknowledge that they are responsible for the destruction of many
archeological sites, especially in Babylon. This city was first
occupied by US forces, and later they handed it over to the Polish
troops.

Several thousand Polish soldiers lived there, they used heavy
armor, tanks and helicopters; they were doing construction work for
their military infrastructure. This seriously damaged many
archeological sites in the area. Later, the US occupation
authorities offered a laughable amount of money – some $20 million
– for the restoration of damaged archeological objects. Several
years ago at a conference in Paris, I addressed some ranking State
Department officials and demanded that the US provide at least $1
billion for the restoration of Iraqi historical buildings. But the
US didn’t respond to that.

In many cases, Americans just allowed our museums to be looted.
The National Museum was looted within three days. And Americans
would not do a thing to keep the exhibits safe. That’s why
Americans should take full responsibility for that.